In wake of everything that’s happened within the past few weeks, I’m a total loss for words. So much is going on in the world around us and, at the same time, terrible things are happening right here at home, in our own backyard. It seems that everyday I wake up, another tragedy has happened–another shooting, another act of terrorism, another life lost.

I’m not going to point fingers. I’m not going to say which campaign of lives deserves to matter more than the other. I’m not going to bash cops, African Americans, the LBGT community or America.

But what I am going to do is ask you to look at yourself, at your heart. Are you a part of the problem?

I think we’ve become so caught up in our own lives and our own problems that we forgot how to care about one another. We forgot how to be human beings. We forgot how to respect one another. We forgot how to be compassionate. We forgot that we’re all Americans–regardless of your skin color or sexual orientation.

I’m tired of waking up every morning and finding out that another life has been lost for a reason that could have been avoided. I hate seeing that another African American has been killed. I hate seeing that cops have been targeted. I hate seeing that a club was shot up because it was for those of the LBGT community. I hate that everyday another life has been taken, and at the same time we’re losing more and more of ourselves.

Because of what all is taking place in our country, we are becoming more and more divided everyday. Nothing about our country is united. As of right now, we are the Divided States of America. But we can change that.

I want you to remember this verse, not just today, but everyday: Mark 12:31, “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

I know every single one of you loves yourself, in some shape, form or fashion. How much better would our nation, and the world for that matter, be if we loved our neighbors they way we love ourselves? I’m not saying you have to like everyone, but we need to love and respect one another. And if you can’t agree with the way someone chooses to live his/her life, don’t seek violence. Learn to be tolerant. Their life isn’t yours to live anyway.

The way I look at it, everyone is going to meet our maker and receive judgment for the way we all chose to live our lives–black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, gay, everyone. You know why? Because we all sin. Every single one of us. And my sin isn’t any greater or less than yours just because it’s different.

We, as Americans, can choose to rise above the violence, the hatred. We can come together rather than allow all of these instances of tragedy destroy us completely. We’ve all stared adversity in the face–some of us more than others– but how we respond will define us, not just today, but forever.

Our grandchildren will read about these acts of terrorism, selfishness and hatred in their History textbooks. They’ll read about our national divide, criticize us and point out our pride, arrogance and mistakes. They’ll wonder why all of these lives had to be lost. They’ll wonder what was gained by targeting cops, African Americans and the LBGT community. They’ll wonder why every person of color was labeled as a thug and why every white person was labeled as a racist. They'll wonder why we stopped respecting authority and honoring those that protect us. They'll wonder why we would stereotype an entire group based upon a handful of individuals. They’ll read the numbers of fatalities, wounded and names of all parties involved. All of these instances are already written in stone in history, but the ending and solution haven’t.

As of right now, I don't think the ending will be pretty and I don't see us reaching a solution, but there’s still time. We can still right these wrongs. We can still change the outcome. We can’t change the past, but what we can do is come together and redeem ourselves as a nation and stop this war waged against ourselves.

Lastly, remember this:

“If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” –Ronald Reagan